Rearrangements and Sequential Rank Order Dominance. A Result with Economic Applications

Distributive analysis typically involves comparisons of heterogeneous distributions where\r\nindividuals differ in more than just one attribute. In the particular case where there are two\r\nattributes and where the distribution of one of these two attributes is fixed, one can appeal\r\nto sequential rank order dominance for comparing distributions. We consider the degenerate\r\ncase where all individuals differ with respect to the attribute whose distribution is fixed and we show that sequential rank order domination of one distribution over another implies that the dominating distribution can be obtained from the dominated one by means of a finite sequence of favourable permutations, and conversely. We provide three examples where favourable permutations prove to have interesting implications from a normative point of view.